Incline Dumbbell Press: How to Do It and Muscles Worked

The incline dumbbell press is one of the best exercises for building the upper chest, and it is the move most people are missing if their chest looks flat up near the collarbone. By setting the bench on an incline and pressing two dumbbells, you bias the clavicular (upper) portion of the pec, hit the front delts and triceps, and get a longer, deeper stretch than a barbell allows. It is simple to set up at home with an adjustable bench and a pair of dumbbells, and it scales from your first session to years of training. Here is how to do it properly, the muscles it works, and how to get the most from it.

How to do an incline dumbbell press

You need an adjustable bench and two dumbbells. Set the bench to an incline before you pick the weights up, and get the dumbbells onto your thighs before you lie back.

1. Set the bench angle. Incline the bench to somewhere between 30 and 45 degrees. Around 30 degrees is the sweet spot for most people for upper-chest work, so start there. Steeper angles shift more load onto your shoulders.
2. Get into position. Sit on the bench with a dumbbell resting on each thigh, palms facing in. Lie back and use a small knee kick to help bring the dumbbells up to shoulder height as you settle, ending with your wrists stacked over your elbows.
3. Set your shoulder blades. Pull your shoulder blades down and back, and pin them against the bench. Keep your chest up, a slight natural arch in your lower back, and both feet flat on the floor. This protects your shoulders and gives you a stable base to press from.
4. Lower under control. Bring the dumbbells down and slightly out to the sides of your upper chest, elbows tucked to roughly 45 to 60 degrees from your body (not flared to 90). Lower until you feel a good stretch across the upper chest, taking about two seconds on the way down.
5. Press up. Drive the dumbbells up and slightly inwards so they finish over your upper chest, almost touching at the top. Squeeze your chest hard at the top without locking your elbows aggressively, then repeat.

Muscles worked

The incline dumbbell press is an upper-chest press first, with a heavy shoulder and triceps contribution and a quiet stabilising job for the smaller muscles.

• Upper chest (clavicular pectoralis major). This is the target. The incline lines the chest fibres up with the pressing path so the upper portion of the pec does the most work. EMG research that tested five bench angles found upper-chest activation peaked at around 30 degrees (five bench inclinations EMG study).
• Front (anterior) deltoids. Your front delts assist on every rep, and their share grows as the bench gets steeper. In the same study, pushing past 45 degrees handed progressively more work to the anterior deltoid, which is why a very upright bench turns into more of a shoulder exercise.
• Triceps. Your triceps extend the elbow to lock the press out at the top, so they take a real load, especially in the final third of each rep.
• Forearms and grip. Holding and balancing two separate dumbbells means your forearms work constantly to keep the weights stable and the wrists in line.
• Core and upper back. Your abs and the muscles around your shoulder blades brace to keep you stable on the bench and stop the dumbbells wandering. The independent dumbbells demand more balance than a fixed barbell.

If you want to keep loading these muscles over time without filling a room with fixed weights, a good pair of adjustable dumbbells and a sturdy adjustable weight bench are the only kit you need.

Benefits

• It builds the upper chest better than flat pressing. Most lifters over-train the mid and lower chest and neglect the top. The incline angle fixes that, filling out the area below the collarbone that makes a chest look complete.
• Dumbbells give a deeper stretch. Because each arm moves on its own, you can lower the dumbbells further than a barbell allows and stretch the pec harder at the bottom. Training a muscle through a range that biases longer muscle lengths is linked to greater growth (narrative review on resistance-training technique and hypertrophy).
• It evens out left and right. Pressing two independent weights stops a stronger side from carrying a weaker one, so it irons out imbalances a barbell can hide.
• It is joint-friendly. Your wrists and shoulders can rotate naturally as you press, rather than being locked to a fixed bar path, which many people with cranky shoulders find more comfortable.
• It counts towards your strength quota. Pressing is muscle-strengthening work for your chest, shoulders and arms, and the NHS recommends training all the major muscle groups on at least two days a week.

Common mistakes

Setting the bench too steep. Crank the bench up past 45 degrees and the lift quietly becomes a shoulder press. Keep it in the 30 to 45 degree range, and start at 30 if upper chest is the goal.

Flaring the elbows to 90 degrees. Letting your elbows point straight out to the sides puts the shoulder joint in a vulnerable position and takes tension off the chest. Tuck them to roughly 45 to 60 degrees from your torso.

Letting the shoulder blades lift. If your blades round up and off the bench as you press, you lose your base and load the front of the shoulder. Pull them down and back and keep them pinned for every rep.

Bouncing and half-repping. Dropping the dumbbells fast and using a bounce out of the bottom robs you of the stretch that makes this exercise work. Lower under control for about two seconds and let the upper chest do the lifting.

Pressing too heavy too soon. The incline press is harder than flat pressing, and going too heavy collapses your form and risks dropping a dumbbell on your face. Earn the weight with clean reps first.

Variations

Once the standard incline dumbbell press feels solid, use these to keep progressing or to train around a niggle.

• Adjust the angle. Drop to 15 to 20 degrees for a low incline that blends upper and mid chest, or go up towards 45 degrees if you want more front-delt work. Rotating the angle every few weeks hits the chest fibres slightly differently.
• Neutral-grip (palms facing) press. Keep your palms facing each other through the whole rep. This is the most shoulder-friendly version and lets you tuck the elbows tightly, which many people with sore shoulders prefer.
• Rotating (Arnold-style) press. Start with palms facing you at the bottom and rotate to palms-forward as you press up. It adds a bit of extra chest and shoulder work, though it is best done lighter.
• Tempo or paused reps. Add a one to two second pause at the bottom in the stretched position, or take three to four seconds to lower. Both make a lighter weight far more demanding and bombproof your technique.

For a complete chest and shoulder session, pair the incline press with lateral raises to build the side delts and round out the look, then browse the rest of our workout guides for the other lifts to slot around it.

Sets and reps

A simple plan that works for most people:

• Muscle and upper-chest size: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps, once or twice a week. Rest 90 seconds between sets.
• Strength focus: 4 to 5 sets of 5 to 6 reps with heavier dumbbells, resting 2 to 3 minutes.
• Learning the move: 3 sets of 10 light, controlled reps, focusing on the bench angle, the stretch at the bottom and keeping your shoulder blades pinned.

Add a small amount of weight once you can hit the top of your rep range with clean form on every set. If your weights only jump in big increments, add a rep or slow the lowering phase instead, then increase the load when you can.

Recommended reads

1. The best adjustable dumbbells in the UK
2. The best weight bench in the UK
3. How to do lateral raises
4. All our workout guides